One of my favorite nights here at the Sole Hope Staff/Intern
house is worship night. Since none of us really play any instruments (besides
IC[ey] Lis, she can play the intro to Wonderwall amongst other old 90’s
songs..), worship night to us is laying in our lantern-lit living room with no
power, listening and singing along to Hannah’s worship playlist. Tonight the
song ‘Holy Spirit” by Bryan and Katie Torwalt played, and I couldn’t help but
think of the last time I sang that song back in the states.
The last time I sang that song, my worship atmosphere looked so
much different than it does today. The experience was filled with amps,
guitars, tracks, vocalists (lets be real, it doesn’t get much better than
Chandler), lights, and hundreds of people packed in a high school cafeteria. We
sang loud and felt the thickness of the Holy Spirit, begging him to fill the
place. Hands in the air, I praised the Lord with everything in me and He felt
so present, almost tangible.
Today, my worship looks drastically different. Musically
speaking, my worship looks like either uncomfortably laying on the wood floor,
or squished on a hard tiny couch while listening to music through a Jambox. What
I’ve learned is, the worship Jesus is asking of me was never meant to be solely
through music, but the adoration He wants from me is in the form of love,
obedience, and trust. Worship is so often seen as musical, which is most
definitely a form of worship - but it doesn’t fully encompass what it means to
truly worship God.
In a church setting, when you obsess over a song being perfect,
lights being exact, and technical malfunctions - you are essentially saying
that God isn’t big enough to reach people THROUGH the technical complications
and imperfect entertainment. The same is true in loving, being obedient, and
trusting with everything. When we obsess about making the right steps, having
the perfect conditions in which we obey Jesus, and the risk it is to love… we
are essentially saying that our God isn’t big enough to reach people THROUGH
our imperfection, slightly less than ideal circumstances, and the human hurt of
a fallen world.
Worship was never meant to be entertainment, it was meant to share the gospel and be an outward
expression of praise.
The great thing about this is that it should remind us that it
isn’t us that are doing the saving.
God doesn’t expect us to save... so the music you play isn’t going to make
people love Jesus, the perfect moments you create aren’t going to make people
love Jesus, and the words we speak aren’t going to make people love Jesus.
Jesus will reveal himself IN the music, IN the perfect moments, and IN the
words. He is doing the saving, not us. We need to make a conscious effort to
make our lives less about us reaching people (while yes, still important), and
more about adoration to God. Worship isn’t something we do to bring people to Christ:
worship is worship and God USES that praise to reach people. When we see
worship as a task, its not worship anymore. Worship is WILLFUL.
Romans 12: 9-21, to me is a clear depiction of what it means to
worship.
We are asked to…
-love sincerely
-be devoted to one another
-honor neighbors above yourself
-be joyful in hope
-be patient in affliction
-be faithful in prayer
-practice hospitality
-not be proud
-not be conceited
-not take revenge
-be peaceful
-do what is right
Worship goes way beyond playing music onstage, speaking in front
of a congregation, running a ministry, or singing along to a
no-power-lantern-lit-jambox-worship sesh.
Every single one of the actions asked of us in Romans 12:9-21 can
be done today.
We must make an effort to worship every single day. Not just
singing at church, not just serving, not just working in ministry, but with
every word we speak. With every thought we think. With every single breath of
our being.
Jesus deserves THAT kind of adoration.
